


Right's Journal

by StarlightSpice



Series: Right Heart collection [1]
Category: Ragnarok Online
Genre: Blacksmithing, Coming of Age, Gen, Origin Story, merchant, monk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 04:19:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17196392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightSpice/pseuds/StarlightSpice
Summary: A collection of memories for my master/whitesmith Right Heart.





	1. Alchemist

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that this was written for NaNoWriMo some years back. I am unsure if I will be continuing this, or leaving it as it is.

It had only been three days, but I was beyond pissed off. I gave up everything I owned to prove that bastard wrong, that I could make something with his money or fame. The Alchemist's guild wanted nothing to do with me and went as far as to not buy any of my spoils in the city of Al De Baran. No doubt my father had something to do with that. If I could only buy a cheap teleport, get to Prontera, then I would be good. Free, finally to do what I wanted to do.

Problem was, I didn't know what that was. Not yet. But that wasn't going to stop me. I guess my inspiration for leaving home started a few days ago. my Father and I were in town, to tell some of his potions. Crowded, loud and busy the streets were, to my amazement. I normally didn't leave the house at such a high traffic time, but he wanted me to learn. The trade. Something that every child learned in his family. The trade of the alchemist. From scavenging alcohol from monsters or making a potion from crushed herbs and water, the alchemist was a respected member of the adventurers association. We make potions, cures, even artificial life forms. To say that an alchemist was weak would be an understatement. Only those that didn't know what they're doing got seriously hurt. If you were trained and experienced, you minimized the dangers.  
Father. A strict man, even at my ten years of age. Ever since I could remember, I was already on the path for my trade. My future job. My Profession. All chosen for me, not by me. I was fine with it. Family tradition and all. I accepted my supposed fate as support and began learning. Day in, day out, it was studying or observing. His teachings seemed solid, in the beginning.  
The problem? I wasn't getting it. It's not that I was stupid, or unwilling to learn, it just didn't...how should I describe it...click? For some reason, even when I was younger, I studied hard, but I couldn't get into it. Silly, huh? You've raised your entire life for one job, and you can't even understand the basics. I honestly believed that I was an idiot. I was going to turn out of me some low rank, fool of an alchemist and bring my Father's name dishonor and shame. A disgrace. A smudge on the family tree. So, instead of losing hope, he brought me along with him. To see and understand how the alchemist worked and operated with others. We were shopkeepers, supports in battle and even traveling merchants. I was only a merchant myself, not at the level required to take the exam. That required me to be older, and more informed.  
The busy streets were full of various shopkeepers. Alchemists, merchants, blacksmiths, you name it, they were here. I watched in awe at my father's skill. He didn’t let people haggle him down, and they paid their fair price. With the work that goes into potion making, they were more expensive than regular healing items like foodstuffs. The work and care that went into them made them worthwhile. Some made you stronger if only temporary. I began noticing I was a hands-on type of learner, not one from a book. I could execute how a potion was brewed with the proper tools, but I couldn't answer it on a written exam even if it was laid out in front of me. I guess you could say my actions spoke louder than words. I held onto that belief, that my father handed down to me.   
"A man can say whatever he pleases, but to be a real man, you must use actions to follow those words." he would always tell me. So, I learned early on that it was better not to boast unless I could back up my own words. Good advice to a ten-year-old, huh? Well, I never forgot it.  
My father opened up a stop and simply had me watch. I wasn't to assist or anything, and if anyone had a problem with me, he told them I was learning. Observation. God, ti was boring as hell. I struggled to keep myself from yawning, or I'd get yelled at for losing focus. Not to mention that would be rude to him. He was taking his time with a slow start like me. He didn't throw me into the world. I would learn about it soon enough, my mother would say. She was the sole reason I wasn't thrown out on the streets after I kept failing. She encouraged father to keep me at home, so it wasn’t his direct kindness keeping me in their home. I wouldn't call it my home, but his. He worked, and mother stayed at home. That's how life was, and that's all I knew.


	2. Argument

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam gets in over his head learning the trade...and angering his father in the process.

My father wasn't as nice as he portrayed. He gave a calm demeanor to those who didn't know him, but as the years went on, got frustrated with me. The first few times I failed, it wasn't so bad. HI was "just learning" but after the failures outweighed the successes, it started to show. It wasn't a lack of effort, but just an intolerance to book-learning. I guess you could call me spoiled in that sense. I wanted to get my hands dirty, and make something without learning the basics first. Maybe I was jumping the gun. I saw it as learning first hand from my mistakes. Father hated it. I cost him a fair amount of zeny when it came to supplies ruined by my "learning".  
I observed mt father's work. He was strict on his wares, and if you didn't have enough money, he wouldn't sell. If you haggled, he raised the price. Non-negotiable. I never understood that about him. We had plenty of money to live on, but he needed to keep selling at this high prices? I didn't question his work. He was the experienced one. Maybe there was more to selling wares than I let on to believe.  
"Are you understanding so far, Adam?"  
"Yes Father." I answered automatically. It was a lie. I have no clue why he was so strict, but it dug in the back of my head. It bothered me, a lot.  
"Good. Keep observing." he instructed, as a priest at an acolyte pair approached the shop. The younger acolyte wanted to purchase mana potions, the blue ones used to restore mana after using special skills. They weren't cheap.  
"Five thousand zeny per bottle."  
"I-I'm sorry?"  
"Five. Thousand. Zeny. per bottle." he repeated firmly.   
"But...that's incredibly expensive!" she pleaded,looking into her pouch.  
"Doesn't matter. No zeny, no sale." Hardass. The girl must be new around the area. Or traveling through. What could hurt giving her a discounted bottle, or even a freebie? Not all business was good, but some like hers, would be spread throughout the towns if she had a positive experience. I got an idea. Positive service meant sales in the long run, I read once somewhere. I had enough on me for two bottles. One for each. Maybe...just maybe. Without thinking it through, I took two bottles, and handed them to the girl.  
"Here, I'll cover these for you. Be sure to tell everyone where you got them from, alright?" I said nervously. The girl's hands touched mine and I jumped a little bit.  
"Really?" she asked, looking up to the priest who nodded.  
"Thank you so very much! I will be sure to tell everyone about this." I chuckled, rubbing the back of my head. I waved the pair off before a painful feeling came to the back of my head. My father....punched me?  
"What the hell was that all about?!"  
"N-nothing! I have the money to pay for them..so I thought-"  
"You thought wrong!" he shouted, causing me to flinch.  
"You're giving me my money back, not earning any!" he growled, giving me a nasty look.  
"Go home. Go to your room, and don't come out." he ordered.  
"But-" I tried to respond.  
"I said, go home. Now." he replied, firmer.  
"Father-" I pleaded.  
"GO HOME." he shouted, waving me away from his cart. I let out a quiet sigh, and followed his exact directions. I went home, quietly entered, and snuck into my room. I didn't want to explain to Mother what I had done. She would be upset with me too.


	3. Leaving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam is faced with a challenging decision...one that will shape the rest of his life.

I let out a groan as I flopped onto my bed. Brushing some of my hair out of my face, I watched as the clouds floated in the sky. They were free. Nobody told them how to live their lives. If I could be that free, I'd go far from here. I knew the merchant class well enough where I could do something for myself. Earn my own money. That'd be a real kick in the pants to him, to show him I don't need him, his money, or his awful business tactics to run a legitimate business. A business what provided what people needed, where I could live a modest life. A small apartment? I didn't need much, not like him. I didn't need a big house or things. I want to adventure. I don't want to be tied to this damn city my entire life. There were many others out there where the travelers through, you could make a killing if you knew what you were doing. Prontera, the capital city was one of them. It had travelers constantly going in and out, and a friend of the family made a fair amount of zeny in few days worth of selling.   
That was it. I could do that. I could leave, scrape together a warp to Prontera from a Kafra agent, and make my own living. Sure, it would be hard for a while, but if I could do errands for some of the townsfolk, I could stay at an inn here and there. It was a terrible plan, but it beat being kicked out on my own without one. I figured that was the straw that broke the camel's back with my father, so I should just have that little plan just in case.  
Who knew I needed it in a few hours. Father came home, with a confident look on his face. He thought of something. He soon called me out of my room, where my mother watched from the doorway. She didn't seem thrilled.  
"Son, I was a bit harsh on you earlier because I want to see you succeed." Right. He wants to see me "succeed". More like "not tarnish his good name."  
"I have a plan to help you learn the ways of the alchemist. See, I have a good friend out in Alberta who will teach you the proper ways of selling your own wares, but he is far stricter than I, so his methods work better..."

Oh no, fuck that. No way. Not happening.  
"So I've arranged for a warp to bring you there. Go get your things, I don't want you to keep him waiting for long." My mother protested. She didn't want me to leave, not so young.  
"Dear, please reconsider this...he's barely ten years old."  
"I've made this choice because I love him. This will be better for him. My father did the same for me at his age." So that was it. The same guy who taught my father everything he knows? Yeah, no. This wasn't happening.  
"...No." I answered quietly.  
"I'm sorry, son?" he asked.  
"I'm not going." I'm not getting shipped off because of him.  
"You don't have a choice in the matter."  
"Yes, I do." I'm not staying like this anymore.  
"If you don't go, I'm having you move out. Simple as that."  
"That's fine with me. I'll be out by dinnertime." I replied with haste. My father was shocked, and so was my mother.  
"Adam...where will you go?"  
"I dunno yet Mother, but I'll keep in touch. See, I have a plan-"  
"You, a plan? Going to give out more free bottles to anyone that passes by?"  
"No. Who knows. Maybe I won't even become an alchemist." I shrugged. Oh well, might as well break it off here with him. I had a feeling once I did this, there was no going back.  
"You, you have been raised for your future job! You knew nothing! Nothing of the world!"  
"I know, and I guess I’ll take it one step at a time." I expressed my confidence. My father? Not happy.  
"You'll be crawling back home in a week." my father stated flatly.  
"Just understand that I won't be." I shot him a serious look. Once I walked out that door, there was no going back. None whatsoever.  
"Then get your things and begone." my father commanded. I owned a cart and some small items. I'd get those, my axe, and be out of this place. My mother was silent, simply watching my father do what he "needed" to do. She never argued or protested much. She did what he told her to do. In reality, she was the perfect housewife. Is that was my mother truly wanted? I didn't challenge her choices in life. If she was happy, she was. Who was I to say anything? I returned to my room, quickly gather a few personal items. I tossed the bag over my shoulder, my legs shaking. I was nervous. I had to leave now, or never. Forever in his shadow, or free? I forced myself to put on a serious face, to continue forward.  
"Adam." my mother said quietly, peering into my room.  
"Are you truly going?"  
"Yes, Mother. I am." I answered with confidence. I didn't sway with any emotion, I kept a firm, strong persona. For her.  
"Then take this. It should keep you safe..." she smiled, handing me a soft, purple ribbon. It's materials warded off harmful magic. She truly, was okay with my leaving?  
"Thank you, mother. I will write to you soon." I nodded, giving her a strong hug. She returned the same, wiping tears from her eyes.  
"I'm proud of you. You go make your own life." she ushered, knowing that I was serious about my leaving. My father simply watched me leave in silence. He thought I was joking when I said I was leaving? I wasn’t waiting for the morning. I was out. That night. Tossing my bag into the cart, I loaded my good axe next to it. I wasn't much, but it was the start. 

The start of the rest of my life.


	4. Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Travelling can be tough, especially if your senior is a dimwit.

Back to now. 

So, I have been on my own for what did I say? A week? Yeah, this is the part where I'd go crawling home to my father, admit I was wrong, and move to Alberta for the next 5 years. No. My fate was much, much worse.  
I was fighting off god-knows-what with another merchant who claimed to know what he was doing. Him being older than me, and more of a serious fighter. His silky, red hair brushed against the back of my neck, as we were back to back, surrounded. His name?  
Red Smith, Jr.

"I thought you said you've done this before!? That you knew what you were doing?!"  
"Well, I do know what I'm doing. I've just never..."  
"Never WHAT?" I shouted, throwing a monster back with the hilt of my axe.  
"Never executed this before." he sheepishly told me, scratching his cheek.  
"Remind me to kill you if we survive this."  
"Ehehe..." How the hell did I get mixed up with this idiot? Easy. I needed a party, he needed a party. I thought it was good since we both were merchants, but god, I got screwed on this deal. After what seemed like hours, we finally knocked off the monsters that were going to make us dinner. It was dark, so our best was making camp for the night.  
"What's with that serious air, Adam?" he asked me, nibbling on an apple.  
"Well, one of us need to be serious.." I replied, sharpening my axe. I had picked up a few tips on maintaining weapons from him, so I guess this wasn't a total loss.  
"Shouldn't it be me, since I'm older?" he chimed in, giving me a grin.  
"If you're the serious one, we’re screwed beyond belief." I spat, trying to brush some of my hair out of my face. My mother usually cut my hair, but since I was on my own, I had to take care of it myself. I was about due for a cut too, and now it was all mangled and unruly. I wasn’t the type to worry about personal looks, but a good image helped with your clientele.  
"Hey Red, you got a knife?" I asked, putting my axe down.  
"Sure, let me get one..." he answered, fishing through one of his bags, pulling out a small knife.  
"Catch." he grinned with a toss, throwing the folded over knife to me. Using my axe as a mirror (since it was freshly shaped and cleaned) I frowned at the embarrassing haircut I had.   
Bowlcut.   
Keeping it short would require a lot of care, so maybe...it should be longer? Red's hair was about to his shoulders, and it didn't look girly, it was masculine. that's the image I wanted. I wanted to be a strong, reliable type of character, not needed constant protection. (Well, with Red as our party leader, I needed all the strength I could get) I frowned, taking the knife and cutting a good chunk of my bangs off. Whoa, could I see, and really good too. I evened out the style a bit, cutting a bit more off the sides, giving my head a shake. In battle, my hair couldn't blind me any longer. The rest? I think I'll grow it out and tie it back. That would keep it out of my eyes easily, and if I were to work, it would be out of the way.  
"Wow, look at you! You're looking pretty sharp now!" Red whistled to me, grinning. I wasn't completely sure how to respond, but I got partially embarrassed. I didn't have many friends growing up, so you could say, Red was my first friend and traveling companion. My first party-mate. Despite the dangers of traveling alongside him, I had a feeling deep down, this was better than living under some old merchant in Alberta. Well, anything would be better than that. So, I would’ve given Red that much credit. it'll all go to his head.  
"I guess it does. It works for now." I answered simply, tossing the knife towards Red, the sharp potion landing in the tree he was sitting against.  
"Aha, Adam, you're such a kidder...that almost hit me..." he mumbled the last part.  
"Almost. But it didn't." I grinned, giving him a friendlier look.  
"Ahhh...!!" he pointed at me, getting my tone.  
"So serious Adam. I have a feeling that we're going to be best friends." Red chirped a positive aura coming from him.  
"Don't push it." I mumbled, taking a bite out of an apple myself.


	5. Flag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After traveling to the blacksmith's headquarters, Adam and Red meet a new friend.

So, I decided to travel with Red Smith, Jr. A choice that leads me to do what I wanted, when I wanted to. Turns out, Red's father was a mastersmith. MasterSmith the other class merchants could become. I hadn't heard much of smiths, and I was intrigued. Work with your hands, learning your trade from on-hand experience, and there wasn't too much to learn from a book.  
Cha-ching. Jackpot.  
I asked Red about how one became a blacksmith. Not only was he full of information, but he was also eager to drag me to the blacksmith's guild. He chattered the entire way, about upgrades and forges, all terms I didn't understand. All of this, a whole different world for me.   
We ended up having to take a day-long airship ride halfway through our travels.   
Note to self. Screw the airship, take the long way around. The entire time we were moving I was sick. Anything I ate came right back up. I put myself into a corner, trying not to feel the rocking of the ship or the sudden drops or rises. Red tried to console me, but most of the time, he was busy gambling for apples. Apples. Apples were more freaking important than his best friend's health. Asshole. I'll never forget that.  
When we finally touched base, I could barely breathe. So much smoke and dust in the air, I could barely see! I figured out why red told me to wear the flu mask he got for me before we landed. Following him as close as possible, We went down the narrow pathways and alleys making to an out of the way building in the bottom corner of the city.  
The Blacksmiths guild. Finally.  
The air was noticeably cleaner inside, and I pulled my mask off. I stood in silence for a good while as I just took in the environment. There was dozens of smiths all over the place, working, forging, even selling wares. Blacksmiths made their own weapons, and even upgraded them without special help! They could enchant weapons too, giving them elemental properties. A part of me was incredibly excited to see all of this. I wanted to jump in and make something. Anything. I had to try.  
"Whoa, chill out there Adam." Red told me.  
"You're drooling."  
"Wha?! I can't be..." I quickly wiped my face to find nothing.  
"Dude, I'm kidding. You just got lost for a moment." he joked, patting my shoulder. It was then I decided. I was going to become a blacksmith. You didn't need to study from childhood to become one. All you needed was several years of supervised training, and pass a lengthy exam. Can do.  
As soon as Red and I were done at the guild, we decided to airship back to Izlude(ugh) Onboard, Red's cart was moving. More than it should have. Since I hadn't bothered to eat, I was a bit more nimble. I moved over to his cart and looked inside. I nearly had a heart attack when I found a fair amount of apple cores and a half-asleep acolyte.  
"Red! You have a stowaway!" I shouted at him, at the same time, waking up the acolyte. The white haired boy leaped out of the cart, scatting cores and apples all over the room.  
"Augh! My apples!" Red cried out, expressing his sadness over his lost inventory.  
"Dude, why were you in his cart?" I asked, utterly confused.  
"Crazy sister. I bought a warp, and I was lost. So I hid in the cart full of food, ate some, and fell asleep." the acolyte answered quickly, wiping his mouth.  
"Sister? You mean a nun or your real sister?" I asked since Red was in tears over his apples, picking up the good ones alongside the cores.  
“Real sister.” he grimaced, giving a depressed look.  
“Man, I’m sorry your family is nuts.” I apologized.  
“That’s fine. Can I travel with you two? I’m less likely to....encounter her.”  
“Uh...Red?” I asked, giving him a glance.  
“My apples...”  
“I’ll take that as a ‘sure, go ahead’.” I shrugged. What could go wrong?


End file.
